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Colorado > Colorado Electoral Code > Elections - Access To Ballot By Candidates

1-4-103. Order of names on primary ballot

Overview of Statute

Candidates placed on the ballot through certification of designation by assembly are to be put on the primary ballot based on the number of votes received, in descending order of votes received.

Candidates by petition shall follow assembly candidates in an order determined by lot.

Statute

Candidates designated and certified by assembly for a particular office shall be placed on the primary election ballot in the order of the vote received at the assembly. The candidate receiving the highest vote shall be placed first in order on the ballot, followed by the candidate receiving the next highest vote. To qualify for placement on the primary election ballot, a candidate must receive thirty percent or more of the votes of the assembly.

The names of two or more candidates receiving an equal number of votes for designation by assembly shall be placed on the primary ballot in the order determined by lot in accordance with section 1-4-601 (2). Candidates by petition for any particular office shall follow assembly candidates and shall be placed on the primary election ballot in an order established by lot.

 

Source: L. 80: Entire article R&RE, p. 322, § 1, effective January 1, 1981.L. 86: Entire section amended, p. 1214, § 1, effective May 30.L. 87: Entire section amended, p. 286, § 7, effective June 26.L. 92: Entire part amended, p. 673, § 4, effective January 1, 1993.

Editor’s note: This section is similar to former § 1-14-209 as it existed prior to 1980.
 
ANNOTATION

The fact that several candidates have been designated by the party assembly does not preclude a petition candidate from having his petition accepted by the secretary of state (or county clerk, as the case may be) and his name listed as a candidate for his party’s nomination on the primary ballot. Anderson v. Mullaney, 166 Colo. 533, 444 P.2d 878 (1968) (decided under former law).

Petitioner’s name allowed to appear on ballot. Where the secretary of state accepted and approved the petition filed by petitioner and no objections were filed as to the validity of his petition, there was no issue in reference to his right to appear on the primary ballot as a candidate by petition and his name did appear
. Anderson v. Mullaney, 166 Colo. 533, 444 P.2d 878 (1968) (decided under former law).
Definition [State]

A state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. C.R.S. § 1-8.3-102.

Definition [Ballot]

(a) A federal write-in absentee ballot;

(b) A ballot specifically prepared or distributed for use by a covered voter in accordance with this article; or

(c) A ballot cast by a covered voter in accordance with this article.

(2) “Covered voter” means:

(a) A uniformed-service voter defined in paragraph (a) of subsection (9) of this section who is a resident of this state but who is absent from this state by reason of active duty and who otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements;

(b) An overseas voter who, before leaving the United States, was last eligible to vote in this state and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements;

(c) An overseas voter who, before leaving the United States, would have been last eligible to vote in this state had the voter then been of voting age and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements; or

(d) An overseas voter who was born outside the United States, is not described in paragraph (b) or (c) of this subsection (2), and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements if the last place where a parent, legal guardian, spouse, or civil union partner of the voter was, or under this article would have been, eligible to vote before leaving the United States is within this state.

C.R.S. § 1-8.3-102.

Definition [Section]

A bound compilation of initiative forms approved by the secretary of state, which shall include pages that contain the warning required by section 1-40-110 (1), the ballot title, the abstract required by section 1-40-110 (3), and a copy of the proposed measure; succeeding pages that contain the warning, the ballot title, and ruled lines numbered consecutively for registered electors’ signatures; and a final page that contains the affidavit required by section 1-40-111 (2). Each section shall be consecutively prenumbered by the petitioner prior to circulation.

Definition [Election]

Any election under the “Uniform Election Code of 1992” or the “Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965”, article 10 of title 31, C.R.S. C.R.S. § 1-7.5-103.

Definition [Secretary]

The Colorado secretary of state. C.R.S. § 1-1.5-102.

Definition [Candidate]

Any person who seeks nomination or election to any state or local public office that is to be voted on in this state at any primary election, general election, school district election, special district election, or municipal election. “Candidate” also includes a judge or justice of any court of record who seeks to be retained in office pursuant to the provisions of section 25 of article VI. A person is a candidate for election if the person has publicly announced an intention to seek election to public office or retention of a judicial office and thereafter has received a contribution or made an expenditure in support of the candidacy. A person remains a candidate for purposes of this article so long as the candidate maintains a registered candidate committee. A person who maintains a candidate committee after an election cycle, but who has not publicly announced an intention to seek election to public office in the next or any subsequent election cycle, is a candidate for purposes of this article. Section 2(2) of article XXVIII of the state constitution.

Cases

Colorado Cases

Case Name: Anderson v. Mullaney

Citation: 444 P.2d 878 (Colo. 1968)

Year: 1968

Case URL: https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/8b66c712c877153ebfb30a600f65546f

Case Summary: Holding that petitioner, who had been designated by a vacancy committee of the party county central committee as a candidate of county assembly, was entitled to have his name placed on ballot as the assembly candidate even though another party successfully challenged petitioner’s right to have his name appear on the primary ballot.

Case Name: City of Glendale v. Buchanan

Citation: 195 Colo. 267, 578 P.2d 221 (1978)

Year: 1978

Case URL: https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/87a59050d5dfddbcbbb6c58b3f4bbb66

Case Summary: Holding that evidence that one voter mistakenly voted for an amendment because he was misled by ballot title was not sufficient to void initiated amendment; challenged constitutional amendments were not void as being inconsistent; and invalidating voter-approved constitutional amendment on ground of misleading title could not be justified absent good cause as to why amendment was not challenged before the election.

Case Name: City of Glendale v. Buchanan

Citation: 578 P.2d 221 (Colo. 1978)

Year: 1978

Case URL: https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/87a59050d5dfddbcbbb6c58b3f4bbb66

Case Summary:

  1. Amendment No. 1 was valid for the following reasons: available statutory and equitable pre-election remedies had not been pursued; the opponents of Amendment No. 1 failed to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the title had misled voters; to invalidate the amendment would do violence to the power of initiative; and Amendment No. 1 and Amendment No. 5 were not in conflict.
  2. Unless convinced that voters have been misled, a reviewing court must assume that the voters cast informed ballots
 

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